Year in Review - 2009

Well, I suppose this is the time to reflect on the past year. What a year it has been. Here are some of the major points.

I started off the year newly unemployed because the library couldn't extend my internship any longer and I didn't get the cataloging job I applied for in November. I used my unemployment time to finish up my grad school applications, celebrate David Bowie's birthday, and watch movies with Lindsey (who was also newly unemployed). By about halfway through the month, Lin had decided to move back to Maryland, and I had acquired a lovely $8/hour job at Five Star Painting. It wasn't much money, but it was full time, and I enjoyed working there.
Before Lindsey left, my friend Kinsey took some roommate pictures of us for her portfolio. Here is my favorite:

Also in January, my adorable nephew Finn was born. Here he is:

Aw. What a sweetie.

Other events of January according to what I blogged: Obama's inauguration with Aretha Franklin's giant hat, I got Lisa Hannigan's lovely album, Sea Sew, and I finally went to Sundance.

In February I turned 23, Maddux agreed to be my Valentine, we got a piano in our apartment, I got accepted to the University of Michigan, I went to see Andrew Bird in concert, I fell in love with the creepy movie He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not, and I came one step closer to perfecting a Valentine's Day playlist. (Incidentally, I think I spent Valentine's Day itself watching Lawrence of Arabia with Tiffany at International Cinema. Oh, how I love that movie.)

In March the biggest thing that happened was that I went to Ann Arbor to check out the SLIS program there, and it was a giant reality check. I realized that I wasn't going to get any funding, and that $16,000 per semester wasn't a good idea. I started exploring other options and caught the first wind of my current roommates via Julie and Drew. (I think I was actually accepted to IU the day I flew to Michigan.) Either way, the trip to Ann Arbor was a blast, and I got to take a fun trip to Canada with Katherine to see Tom Stoppard's Travesties. I also was introduced to some amazing videos  on that trip. Also in March, James and Amanda got engaged - and I took full credit, since I introduced them. Right at the end of March I got in my lovely car accident on a slushy morning, and I spent the rest of that day at home watching The Usual Suspects and trying to avoid going into shock by eating lots of popcorn.

In April I sold my contract and got another job, so I quit Five Star Painting, moved home and started working with Clark at OverstockDrugstore.com. I also started watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which changed my life. (Wow, was April really that uneventful?)

In May, Jennie got married, I made the official decision to head to Bloomington instead of Ann Arbor, I made some playlists, and I went to work a lot. Emily started coming up for movie-watching parties so that she could get out of Provo and I could have a social life. Whitney started dating her now-husband Matt. I was petulant about my new singles' ward.

In June, my family finally got rid of dialup Internet. Also, it rained a lot and people talked about swine flu.

In July, my brother Ty got married, I took a brief trip to Cedar City with Whitney, and I got to live by myself for two weeks while my parents went on vacation (which meant I watched three seasons of Buffy and made myself lots of good food). Michael Jackson and half of Hollywood died, and I hardly blogged at all because I didn't want to be at the computer after working all day.

In August there was a visit to Cedar City and a visit from Treb, but what mostly happened was I packed and panicked for the big move, and I spent a lot of time visiting people. The move involved a three day drive with my dad (mostly lecture-free thanks to Clark) and then a night of pure panic when I got there. However, after a few days, I settled in and discovered that good roommates, interesting classes, a welcoming branch and bunnies make up for a lot of homesickness.

September involved lots of adjusting, a karaoke night for Ann's birthday, a funny story about getting asked out by the carpet guy, lots of movie nights in the park, and a facebook miracle involving Brandi Carlile and an old friend.

October was an amazing month of pumpkin foods, scary movies and three Halloween costumes. Bonus: a trip to Ohio and Rayla's baptism.

In November, I did a lot of crossword puzzles, but the main event was Thanksgiving. Jill and I pulled off a Thanksgiving miracle that I will never forget, and it was wonderful.
I've spent most of this month at home, although I did get to sing in the mall and finish up some projects. Home has been lovely, full of lots of visits with family and friends, some good movies, Whitney's wedding, Anna Karenina, a blind date who ended up being the younger brother of a girl who once went to a dance with one of my brothers, and today a continuation of my long-standing New Year's Eve party, now going on eight years. I can't believe we're still coming together after all this time, but we are and I love it. Also, I've spent the last week or so listening to a lot of a band called Noah and the Whale, and I think I'm in love with them. I can't even tell you how many times I've listened to this song in the last week:



"This is a song for anyone with a broken heart. This is a song for anyone who can't get out of bed. I'll do anything to be happy." I love it.

Anyway, it's been a crazy year, but it ended up being good in spite of some really terrifying transitions. I never would have expected to finish it off in with half of my stuff in Indiana, but I like the way things turned out, and I'm excited to see what the next year brings.

I thought this post was going to turn out differently, with a shorter summary of the year and then some lists of favorite musics and movies and such, but I think that might have to wait until tomorrow or next year. Happy last day of the decade!

Fear

So remember that time last March when I got in an accident on the freeway in some slushy snow? And then remember how I spent that whole month when it was raining last summer doing some major hyperventilating every time I had to drive in the rain? And remember how when I came back to Utah and had to drive in snow again it was still awful, but it was also awful to ride in cars while there was snow on the ground?
Yeah. That was a good time.
Tonight my family went up to see Sherlock Holmes in Layton, which is about a 20 minute drive. I closed my eyes for pretty much the entire drive and just listened to the crunch under the wheels. I also slid down so that if I had to open my eyes, I couldn't see what the road looked like. My dad explained tonight that sometimes they don't plough the roads in the city because they're hoping they can just salt them and it will melt off without creating any big snow piles on the sides of the road. While in theory this seems like a good idea to me, I can't help but think it's an awful idea every time we come to a stop light and I start panicking because I don't know if our car will slide into the intersection.
Can they help out severe fear of snow driving with therapy? Hypnosis, perhaps? Because I feel like I'm going to have to move somewhere without seasons unless it becomes a little crippling in the near future, and I like seasons.
Sherlock Holmes was great, by the way. As far as I'm concerned, Robert Downey Jr. can keep making huge budget movies forever and I will still go and see them and enjoy them. Especially when they have Jude Law and that guy from Little Dorrit in them.

Spicy Pine!

One year ago, I found this piece of music in a gift box in the BYU Music and Dance Library. It's one of the most absurd pieces of music ever written, and is consequently really awesome. I also think that finding it was probably my greatest moment as a librarian. I will reach no apex so great as this.
I didn't get to go to the Christmas party last year - I think I was going to a concert or something instead - but this year the performance was posted on Youtube and I finally got to see it. And now I'm sharing it with you. Be sure you notice the last line of the song, "But spicy pine to some, the poor, disillusionment, unkind."

Happy Things

I love being home. There are many reasons for this, which include hanging out with my parents, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, seeing friends (Kellie and Emily this weekend, the uuinnis, Jennie, Travis and Carrie in the next week and Katherine and Miri after Christmas, plus probably some high school friends and some point - New Year's Eve, perhaps?), going to work with Clark and Spence again, etc. However, one thing that is especially fun right now is having a real kitchen in which to cook Shrimp Stir Fry with Coconut Curry and Black and White Cheesecake Squares. Oh. My. Goodness. I'm very excited to try out more things in the coming weeks, plus I need to make the awesome butternut squash bisque and the pumpkin roll for the parentals. It should be a good time. Oh, how I love to cook in a fully-equipped kitchen.

Also, one of the blogs I stalk introduced me to this amazing clip today. I promise it gets even funnier as it goes along.



Bahahaha. Merry Christmas.

Some Christmas Songs

As much as I love the traditional Christmas songs of my youth, I always like finding some less traditional holiday songs to give me a break from Donny Osmond singing "Mary Did You Know?" (I'm sorry, but this is one of my least favorite Christmas songs ever, mostly because it gets so overplayed on FM100 AND it's quite a repetitive song anyway. But I digress.)
In any case, it's been a couple of years since I posted a Christmas list, so even if there are some repeats I'm going to post again.

• "Silent Night" as sung by Lisa Hannigan. Okay, perhaps it isn't too Christmasy with the modified lyrics, but it's still awesome. The a cappella followed by the simple cello in the background - it's just crazy beautiful. Besides, it's much less freaky than Simon and Garfunkle's "7 O'Clock News/ Silent Night."
• "The Friendly Beasts" sung by Sufjan Stevens. Sufjan's Christmas albums are insane. There are so many. But I particularly love this song because it isn't recorded as often (in fact, I don't think I'd ever heard it until I heard Brian Stokes Mitchell sing it at last year's Tabernacle Choir concert, which was delightful as well.) I also love his version of "O Come O Come Emmanuel" from volume 1 of the anthology. (He does it three times, so I feel the need to clarify.) 
• "Christmas" by Blues Traveler. I have loved this song since I first heard it back in junior high, especially the bit where they lay "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" on top. 
• "The Heartache Can Wait" by Brandi Carlile. This is one of my most listened to Christmas songs this year because it's SO PRETTY. The basic gist is, "I know you're thinking about leaving me, but we've got one last chance, and even if it doesn't work, let's wait until after Christmas to break up. But maybe Christmas will save our relationship." But it's all pretty and poetic. :) 
• "I Saw Three Ships" sung by Sting. Yes, I'm incredibly annoyed by Sting's current winter offering, but I love the drums and flute in this one. It's joyous and wonderful. By the way - versions of this song in my Christmas collection: six. 
• "Christmas" by Rogue Wave. This is a more recent discovery, but it's simple and lovely. "I believe in love but how can men who've never seen light be enlightened?" 
• "No Christmas for Me" by Zee Avi. One of those cheesy "It's not Christmas without you" songs, but I love the sound - and also, "The Christmas stockings are as empty as my heart." 
• "The Man in the Santa Suit" by Fountains of Wayne. A song about the guy who dresses up as Santa at the mall because he really needs the money. I think it's a little deeper than "I Want an Alien for Christmas." But not much. (There is a terribly soulful version of this sung by Neil Halstead on the Brushfire Holiday album from last year, and I think it's also worth checking out. Just not as much as this one.)
• "Believe in Me" by fun. I love that a) fun. gave this out for free and b) they managed to work in a plug for their album. ("I asked for fun and I got "Aim and Ignite.") It sounds very Beach Boys-esque - mostly in a good way. 
• "Someday at Christmas" by Jack Johnson. Jack's lovely vision of a peaceful future when we finally understand what Christmas is all about. It's exactly what you'd expect from Jack, but it's nice. 
• "Santa Clause is Coming to Town" sung by Mason Jennings. Because I love Mason Jennings and his swoopy hicka-shicka charm.
• "Fairytale of New York" by the Pogues. Who doesn't need a drunken Irish Christmas song? No one, that's who doesn't. 
• "Please Daddy, Don't Get Drunk this Christmas" by The Decemberists. See above. Only add accordion. And substitute "Cowboy" for "Irish." (Update: today I heard John Denver singing this song. I don't know if he wrote it or if it's older, but I definitely didn't know it was older than the Decemberists. Awesome.) 
• "Frosty the Snowman" sung by Fiona Apple. It's fabulous, I promise. 
• "2000 Miles" by the Pretenders. Courtesy of Lindsey. 
• "Little Drummer Boy" by Bing Crosby and David Bowie. Okay, this one is more traditional, but it's Bowie. You can't leave Bowie out of a list like this. 
• "Song for a Winter's Night" by Sarah McLaughlin. This song is unspeakably lovely. It makes me want to sit at my table by candlelight while it snows outside. 
• "Winter Song" by Sarah Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson. Beautiful harmonies, beautiful lyrics ("I'll be your harvester of light and send it out tonight.") 
• "In the Deep Midwinter" sung by James Taylor. Okay, this is just a ridiculously wonderful arrangement of an already beautiful song. And unlike Sting or Bob Dylan, James doesn't make me mad as he progresses into old age and Christmas music. (Bob!! Say it ain't so Bob!!!)
• "Jingle Bells" sung by the Barenaked Ladies. Mostly because they include the Batman smells portion of the lyrics. 
• "Let There Be Peace on Earth" sung by Martin Sexton. I don't know why I love this so much - it's just him singing the song a capella at the end of Camp Holiday, but it's beautiful. 
• "Christmas Song" by Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds. I really love this song. 
• "Comfort and Joy" by Simon and Garfunkle. This is one of those lovely secrets of the Christmas world that everyone should know about. 
• "The 12 Days of Christmas" sung by Relient K. "What's a partridge, and what's a pear tree? I don't know so please don't ask me. But I can bet those are terrible gifts to give." 

Obviously I'm not including all of my favorite Christmas stuff on this list, but you don't need anyone to direct you to Bing Crosby or to Harry Connick Jr.'s various Christmas albums, nor to Muppet Christmas Carol, nor to John Denver and the Muppets, nor to The Nutcracker, nor to the various wonderful Tabernacle Choir albums that I listen to obsessively all month. This is strictly for mixing up your Christmas playlist a bit. Please feel free to comment with your personal favorites.

Almost . . . there . . .

In just a few short days, I will be at home decorating the tree, snuggling nephews and nieces, going to the Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert, hanging with my uuinnis before Whitley gets married, trudging through actual snow instead of whatever it was we had in Bloomington this morning (gone now).
Just have to get through my last few assignments first, which may be a stretch now that my brain has entered vacation mode.

The Adventures of Turkey Ralph

Once upon a time, Jill and I decided to make Thanksgiving. And lo, we shunned things like store-bought pie crust and Pillsbury and did go "all out" to make it a Thanksgiving to remember, one worthy of the things our mothers taught us about Thanksgiving, particularly in terms of butter content.

And our Thanksgiving went off without a hitch and looked a little something like this:

First, the grocery store. We decided to take advantage of the fact that we were awake at 6 am Wednesday morning because we took Ann to the airport at 4, and we beat the pre-Thanksgiving rush. Afterward, we promptly went back to bed until 11. Or so.

So . . . early . . . hot chocolate . . .  not caffeinated . . . enough . . .

Yup. All done by 6:49. No line to check out.

Next, we picked up our turkey (Jill named it Ralph, but Brecklyn had already named it Turkey. So we called it Turkey Ralph.) and prepared to brine it.

After a break for various cleaning projects, showers and other errands, we worked on the pie situation.

Pecan!

Meringue!

Time out to gut the turkey and arrange some flowers.

So peaky!

Jill's beautiful apple pie

This was a pie that we rescued from ugliness with the power of crust leaves.

Yay! Five pies achieved!

We also ended up with various people calling us because they were bored, so by the end of the night it was a party, and after pie we watched some Christian Bale Batmany goodness.

The next morning, we found more guts in Turkey Ralph.

So we made Bruce re-gut him.

And then, after he soaked in a freshwater bath for a couple of hours, we rubbed him with butter . .  .

Stuffed him with apples and onions . . .

And stuck him in the oven.

Two and a half hours later he was delicious.

Danille and Bruce proceeded to carve . . .

While Jill called her mom to ask about how to make gravy . . .

. . .I took the rolls out of the oven.

Jill also made those awesome yams, and the rest of our friends brought mashed potatoes, fruit salad, stuffing, and green bean with bacon.

Yay!

I can assure you that there were many more pictures of this event. If you want to see the facebook album and aren't on facebook (i.e. Mom), you can see it here at the public link.

We did it!!

Thankful, vol. 1

It's time for a Thanksgiving post, don't you think?
It's been a crazy year of much tumult and disorder. I've had four different jobs since last Thanksgiving, I've changed my plans three or four times, and some of that plan-changing launched me to Bloomington, IN, which is where I will be spending Thanksgiving this year. It's been quite a ride, but as I think about it, I have a lot to be thankful for as I approach my first Thanksgiving away from home. Here are a few of the many things I'll be thinking about while I eat my turkey and pie this year:

1. My parents. Aside from their being generally awesome and supportive and amazing, I'm really grateful for them this year because they were awesome and supportive and amazing about my harebrained scheme to move halfway across the country to become a librarian. I know they weren't excited about it, but they've been really great about everything, and I can't thank them enough. Trying makes me feel a little like this:
2. My family. I'm really thankful that the rest of my family for a) missing me and b) sending me lots of pictures and music and other things that make me feel generally connected to what's going on at home. They're great, and I'm always grateful that I have a family awesome enough to miss so much. 
3. My branch/the church. I don't know how people pick up and move to a new place without having a panic attack when they don't know that they'll have a built-in support group when they get there. One of the most amazing things about moving out here was realizing that no matter where I go, if there's an LDS ward or branch there, I have friends who will take care of me. Which brings me to my next point . . .
4. My roommates and the other branchies. I couldn't have asked for more wonderful roommates and friends to greet me when I got here. I'm thankful for Jill, who always helps me follow through with whatever ridiculous things we come up with to do, and Ann, whose ideas invariably make me think and who fosters lots of Top Model watching. I'm grateful for friends who will go to the opera and the historical society, for friends who will discuss feminism and still like me when I reference Buffy, for friends who remember and continue funny funny jokes (driving reverently! flashlight motion! theoretical professions!). 
5. My other friends who haven't forgotten me and still get me. I love talking to Lindsey and Miri on facebook and IM and keeping up with other good friends and roommates via blogs, texting, etc. Which brings me to . . .
6. Technology, especially cell phones and computers. I love that even though I'm far away from anyone who has known me for longer than three months, I can still communicate with all of them on a daily basis - and do in some cases. 
7. Bloomington. This really is a great town. It's small enough to walk to most of the places I need to be, but it's big enough that there are always things to do and there's always sushi to eat. 
8. My job. It's really nice that even though my job at the library has sporadic hours and low pay, I still get to eat and pay my rent thanks to good old Overstock Drugstore. 
9. British Sunday. Just because. 
10. Dinner group. I love not having to cook most nights, and I love having a reason to cook on my night. 

I'm hoping this will be the first of a few different installments throughout this week, but you know how I am about following through when it comes to things that I'll write more about later. Either way, this is a good start. 

The Geek Out

Okay, it has to be said.

Tonight Jill and Ann and I went to see New Moon.

Like this.

Ann's shirt says, "Team Indifferent."

The front of my shirt just says, "Edward?"

My favorite part of this is the whole pretending to be self-righteous about Twilight while we're there on opening day, as well as the pretending that Buffy the Vampire Slayer is somehow less geeky. (Buffy does have more street cred though. There's a certain respectability despite things like this (thank you for being short and getting better quickly, season one): http://www.hulu.com/watch/1298/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-vampire-harvest-ritual#x-4,vclip,3,0) But I digress from my point, which was that we defied geekiness with uber-geekiness.

That being said, the movie was thoroughly enjoyable. I'm not going to say a lot, but this has always been my favorite of the books, and I wasn't disappointed. We laughed, we cried, we laughed hysterically at a few really choice parts, the bad CGI wolves and every time one of the guys took his shirt off again. (I lied about the crying. There was no crying. Except with laughter.) Overall though, I thought it was better than the first one (probably because of the budget being bigger this time and the translation into less moody guitar in the soundtrack and a better overall quality), and Michael Sheen was awesomely creepy. Speaking of which - did I just think Michael Sheen was more respectable than he is? Because I thought Frost/Nixon plus The Queen meant that he had higher standards. But then, I also didn't expect Justin Vernon to be such a teeny bopper sellout until I found out he wrote a song for the soundtrack (which sounded awesome, by the way, and I need it). I suppose if Michael Sheen and Bill Nighy can be in Underworld, Michael Sheen can be Aro. I think it just threw me because I didn't know he was in the movie until today. Regardless of any of this, he was awesome.

Yeah. Creeptastic.

Anyway. Don't be fooled by my laughter and scorn for some of the more ridiculous moments. I loved it, as I expected to, and I'm not ashamed. (Take that, haters. Also Jill.) You should all check out Julie's guest post on the blogject today. I think it sums up certain aspects of the hysteria perfectly, and I love it. I also really love Janssen's review. It says many of the things I didn't write about but agree with fully, so go ahead and read her post if you want a positive review that still makes fun of Edward's lipstick.

Also, watching the previews was even more enjoyable than it usually is because Ann instituted a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs sideways voting policy before they started. I started off with a thumbs down for When in Rome, switched to a thumbs up when Lee Pace came on screen, then was back to thumbs down by the end of the preview. It looks really bad. The next preview was for Dear John, and although I was already in a thumbs down state of mind when I saw that Channing Tatum was in it, I reserved judgment until the screen said, "From Nicolas Sparks," which was when Ann and I gave it a thumbs down simultaneously. Also, I'm grateful to the Letters to Juliet preview for giving away the entire movie so I don't have to be torn between my love of Vanessa Redgrave and how bad that movie looked. It was a great game.

Finally, I've been excited for Sherlock Holmes and The Lovely Bones for awhile, but I got more excited for the former after some pre-previews tonight, and I got more excited about the later when I realized the Peter Jackson is doing it. This is your chance to make up for King Kong, Peter!

Puzzling

I have recently become a crossword puzzle fiend. I've always liked them, but now it's this drive to finish my crossword puzzle, and since I have access to the IU paper AND a free New York Times (also USA Today . . . I wonder how their puzzle is?) I sometimes do both.

Here's what I've discovered. There are certain clues or words that end up popping up a lot. Words that really have no business being in multiple cross word puzzles. For example: why has the word "dab" been in the last three IU puzzles I've completed? Why do so many puzzles reference British record company"EMI?" Must we always talk about "scabs" and how they're enemies to unions? (I mean, can't we at least mix it up and talk about scabs as things you pick off your skin once in awhile?) And hey, I watched Family Matters for years, but that doesn't mean that I know how to spell "nerdy Steve's" last name. Today I tried to start it with an E, but since no one grows "seger cane," I figured I was probably wrong.

On the other hand, I do like clues like, "climbing tool for frozen services." (Me: "Crampon! Wait, no . . . only five letters. I'll come back.") How great is it to have "ice ax" in your puzzle? I like it that today the New York Times had "rock and roll," "cock and bull," "lock and load" and "shock and awe" as answers and none of them crossed. I like that I now assume "Spanish 'that' " is always going to be "esa" even though I don't speak Spanish and am fairly certain there's more than one way to say "that." If it's been in more than one puzzle, it's the answer.

Finally, I like that because I'm mostly on campus Monday-Wednesday, I almost never have to remember that I'm not as amazing at crossword puzzles as I think, because I never see the reality check that is the Friday puzzle. Are you kidding me? I did two puzzles today without help! I'm awesome!

Anniversaries

Has anyone noticed how many significant anniversaries there are this year? This is crazy.

• "One small step for man . . ." - 40 years
• Sesame Street - 40 years
• The Wizard of Oz - 70 years (the anniversary screening of this was SO much fun).
• Berlin Wall comes down - 20 years
• Edgar Allan Poe's birth - 200 years
• Birth of Victor Borge - 100 years
• Sleeping Beauty - 50 years
• Woodstock - 40 years

I'm pretty sure Ann and I talked about some others the other night. I guess there are significant anniversaries every year. Anything else you've noticed?

The usual quick update to get my blog un-stagnant again.

I hate it when I get really behind on my blog and feel like I should be catching up, but then there are other things I want to talk about. I also hate it that I still haven't posted Halloween pictures, so let's get that out of the way first.

Jill and I planned our Halloween costumes months in advance, courtesy of Martha Stewart. Jill was a beehive (or Utah) and I was a beekeeper, but did it in such a way that more than one person thought I was Chuck from Pushing Daisies, which I was okay with.

So here we go:

So there's Halloween. There was also some Psycho watching. It was a good October.

Since then, I don't feel like there was that much that happened. We went to the opera and will be going to a different opera this week (Romeo and Juliet before, The Magic Flute this weekend).

On Wednesday this week, we went to sing at a funeral in Terre Haute. A member of our stake was killed in Afghanistan and they wanted a stake choir. It was a nice way to spend Veteran's Day.

I'm sure life has been more eventful than that, but that's all I've got. Onward now to Thanksgiving, final projects and home for Christmas!

Happy Birthday Sesame Street!

Dear Sesame Street,

Thank you for being such a big part of my formative years.

Love,

Megan

Post the 400th

I don't have anything very exciting for this 400th post, so I'm just going to write some stuff and note that this is the 400th post. Good times.

1. I have now been in Indiana for just over two months, and I realized something amazing the other day. I am really happy. I still miss my family and wish they were here, I wish I wasn't building student loan debt or living in a little room where every day I think about things I should have brought with me. And yet. It's really nice to realize that this was the right decision - that all of those feelings that I needed to do this were actually leading me somewhere.
2. I just finished a lovely book called Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Good heavens it was wonderful. There was some strong language in it and it jumps around a lot, so don't read it if you just like a straightforward story that will wrap up all nice and neat, but it was fantastic. (If you aren't sure whether you'd like it, feel free to ask me for more details and I'd be happy to talk about it.)
3. I'm listening to the new Kings of Convenience album entitled Declaration of Dependence. Aside from its obviously great title, I am thrilled to be reminded again of how much I love this band with their simple harmonies, introspective lyrics and HUGE glasses. If you haven't checked them out yet (still?) please enjoy this video and fall in love with them:
   
4. Remember how I don't like soup? Well, since moving to Indiana, I have found several that I like, including this great butternut squash bisque that Jill and I made on Sunday. Take note there of the words soup and squash. It's almost like I'm a real grown up person.
5. Despite my being really happy in Bloomington, I sure would like it if real movies would come here. (And by "real" I mean . . . I wish they had the Salt Lake Film Society here.) I'm dying to see An Education and that one about Keats and am convinced that they will never come here. Ever. On the bright side though, I'm excited to see Amelia and The Lovely Bones, and The Invention of Lying just became eligible for the Five Buck Club, provided my card gets here someday.
6. The other day, Jill and I went shopping for Halloween costume stuff and also ended up buying wigs. This was mostly because they were $4 and we needed something to wear to a Halloween birthday party that night (our actual costumes weren't quite done yet). The result was this, and I kind of loved it:
   
   
7. This weekend the Institute choir gave its first concert, and I remembered how much I missed singing in a choir. Tonight we started Christmas music, including a couple of songs we sang when I was in Madrigals in high school (albeit different versions). I still miss singing Christmas music all through December, but this certainly makes it better.
8. My dad has turned into something of a folk hero here. I think that has something to do with my telling stories about him making centerpieces for his High Priest Quorum lesson - rolls of duct tape stacked like a vase and containing a bouquet of remote controls - and that story about the time he came to my choir concert and flashed his keychain flashlight during the ovation. In fact, one of my friends now makes a flashlight motion at me every time he sees me now. And really, why shouldn't my dad be a legend?
   My mom is also a legend, mostly because I cook her delicious food and people want to try the real thing. We may get some visitors over Christmas break.
9. My cataloging class has become mind-numbingly boring. The material is fine, but it's hard stuff to teach, which is evident. On the upside, I'm getting really good at doing crossword puzzles and listening at the same time.
10. I taught a library instruction session this week. The class was a little dead (they are freshmen in a first year course, so I can't blame them) but it wasn't a total bust and I think most people got it. I'm sure it will become a smoother process as I practice, which is going to happen again on Friday.

I think that's it for now. Thanks for sticking with me through 400 posts - especially during the times when I hardly post at all. You, dear readers, are awesome. Even the secret lurkers. (I know you're out there - there are way more people subscribed on Google Reader than actually comment here. Which is cool. Lurking, that is. Can I say that?)